God bless Alex Wickham, ex of far right monstrosities Guido and Breitbart, for trying to make support-to-isolate happen. Here he is yesterday:
"Big problem for No. 10 and 11
Internal govt assessment finds current self-isolation policy has "low to medium" effectiveness
It warns there are "barriers" & "disincentives" to isolating And urges ministers to do more on sick pay / financial support"
https://twitter.com/alexwickham/status/1405057805992697858?s=20
Failed to become a story yesterday: not a big problem after all.
And here he is today:
"The U.K. government suppressed access to sick pay for people isolating with coronavirus at the height of the pandemic,
London Playbook first reported.
Emails between senior civil servants, seen by London Playbook, show the U.K. Treasury instructed government officials to conceal a little-known provision from the COVID-19 furlough scheme that granted sick pay to people isolating with the coronavirus. In the emails, exchanged in January and February 2021, a senior official protested that the Treasury was blocking guidance that would have explained to employers and employees how to access this money."
https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-...cheme-for-workers-isolating-with-coronavirus/
So not only did government not provide sufficient material support for sick or potentially sick workers to isolate, despite knowing that it was crucial to suppressing the virus, they actively tried to withhold what support was already in place.
It's completely scandalous - it's at the heart of past and ongoing government failures - and yet it absolutely refuses to become a story.
I'm blaming the austerity mindset of Britain's awful editors and opposition parties. They will jump on a borders story in preference to this *actual* scandal every single time, because on some level they agree with the government: they really would rather the bodies pile sky high than risk workers getting something for nothing.